Deadliest Afghan Bombing Points to Pakistan

The documentary interviews other mid-level Taliban commanders about their time in Pakistan. One says that Pakistan’s help plays a “significant role” and the safe havens are “really important.” They say that their network of training camps are overseen by members of the ISI or those closely tied to it. “They are all the ISI’s men. They are the ones who run the training. First, they train us about bombs, then they give us practical guidance,” a Taliban commander says.

The film also brings to light new evidence that Pakistan did know Osama Bin Laden’s location. A former Afghan intelligence chief said he told President Musharraf in 2006 that Bin Laden was in a town called Manshera, only 12 miles from Abbottabad, where he was ultimately killed. An arms smuggler for the Taliban said he personally helped shuffle Bin Laden from one location to the next. In addition, Abu Farraj al-Libi, a senior Al-Qaeda operative who was in charge of finding a safe haven, brought his family to Abbottabad in 2003 for a period of time.

The Pentagon report shows that the U.S. is indeed making progress in Afghanistan, but this progress will be limited because of the Pakistanis, and once U.S. forces leave, the progress could be jeopardized. The report found that the levels of violence in Afghanistan fell for the first time in five years in May. The number of attacks in September was 26% less than the previous year. However, cross-border attacks are again increasing and much of the fire comes from areas near Pakistani military posts. This again proves Pakistani culpability.

The U.S. drone has been the weapon of choice in striking at Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorists. In mid-October, two senior Al-Qaeda leaders were killed, both involved in planning attacks overseas. One was a member of the terrorist group’s Shura Council. On October 26, the drones killed between 13 and 22 members of the Taliban in South Waziristan, including a deputy to the chief of the Pakistani Taliban. On October 30, the fourth strike in five days happened, killing 6 terrorists in North Waziristan. The drone campaign has been decisive in the war on terror and in making progress in Afghanistan, but Saturday’s attack shows that it alone cannot defeat the Pakistan-based terror networks.

The progress in Afghanistan is encouraging, but the cost of it may be for naught if the Pakistan-based terrorists unravel it as U.S. forces depart. American soldiers in Afghanistan deserve to have a winnable mission and to be protected. Instead, they are fighting a war that cannot be won until Pakistan is held accountable for trying to kill them. It is time to honor our soldiers by making Pakistan pay a steep price for its actions.

Ryan Mauro is a fellow with the Clarionproject.org, the founder of WorldThreats.com and a frequent national security analyst for Fox News Channel. He can be contacted at ryanmauro1986@gmail.com.

john in cheshire

Pakistan is our (USA, UK) enemy. Ahmed Rashid's book Jihad, explains what the Pakistanis have been doing over the decades, but what is not clear is why our ruling elite allow our enemy, Pakistan, to continue to harm us with impunity. It is also worrying that, here in the UK at least, there are so many Pakistani muslims whose allegiance is not to my Country, England, but to their own muslim country and faith. They are a fifth column, building up in strength through numbers and one that will eventually have to be physically confronted in our towns and cities. There have already been instances of muslims amassing weapons.

alphakilosingh

You cannot blame Muslims for that. Whatever allegation you choose to throw at them, you cannot accuse them of concealing their intentions. They never said they did not want Islam to rule the world. There is a lot of discussion about Muslims being a generally peaceful community with only few radicals, but even the most moderate of the moderate peaceful Muslims has no second opinion on this issue. Take your country for example. It has as of now nearly 3% Muslim population (officially), and they want Sharia Law in Britain! There are videos available on Youtube wherein Anjem Chaudry is seen shouting at the top of his voice from Trafalgar Square in full view of Her Majesty's police that 'Killing of infidels by Muslims was perfectly justified, and that this would continue as long as Britain and the rest of the world does not accept subservience to Islam'!
You can perhaps control them if you restrict them to 3%, but if you allow them to grow, please be ready to play the sucker.

ObamaYoMoma

The Pentagon’s latest report on the war in Afghanistan states that the Pakistani safe havens and the weaknesses of the Afghan government present the most serious problems to the war effort.

Nah…what presents the most serious problems is the institutional blindness of the US government, as the war, which couldn't be more fantasy based and counterproductive, was a preordained failure even before it was ever implemented. Thus, it was always destined to fail no matter what because what is trying to be accomplished is based on false PC multicultural fantasies, myths, and assumptions.

People don't understand but GWB morphed the Republican Party into the second coming of the Dhimmicrat Party when among many things he abandoned Reagan's peace through strength and deterrence defense policy and replaced is with Colin Powell's you break it you own it defense policy.

The fact that Pakistan allowed the Haqqani network to carry out such an operation shows it has no intention of changing its behavior.

What you mean allowed it? It ordered it! Indeed, Pakistan is an Islamic country and like ALL ISLAMIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WITHOUT EXCEPTION it is at war against the US and indeed all non-Muslim unbelievers.

The unfortunate reality is that until Pakistan stops facilitating acts of terrorism in Afghanistan, the country cannot be stabilized.

First of all, Muslims don't ever perpetrate terrorism, as terrorism is a product of Western civilization only. Instead, Muslims perpetrate violent and non-violent jihad in the cause of Allah, as jihad, which is holy fighting in the cause of Allah to make Islam supreme, is the product of Islamic civilization only.

Nevertheless, Afghanistan will never be stabilized. Not only that but Afghanistan, like Iraq is too, is our enemy and the enemy of the West, exactly like ALL ISLAMIC COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WITHOUT EXCEPTION. Thus, our mission in Afghanistan is not only incredibly fantasy based, it is exceedingly counterproductive at the same time, because we are in essence propping up a Sharia state that for all intents and purposes is our eternal enemy.

This support is also critical to Al-Qaeda’s survival.

I hate to rain on this writer's PC multicultural blinded parade, but AQ is not the end all be all enemy of the West as it is always purported to be way out of proportion by knuckle head writers like this one. AQ is simply one violent jihadist group out of thousands and amounts to a molehill on a Mountain when you consider the fact that all mainstream orthodox Muslims are jihadists, either violent jihadists or non-violent jihadists, and the ones that are not jihadists are not Muslims at all but blasphemous apostates that per the dictates of Islam should be executed.

The Pentagon report shows that the U.S. is indeed making progress in Afghanistan,

Give me a break, the US is propping up a Sharia state and a Sharia state whose President said just last week that if war was to break out between the US and Pakistan, that Afghanistan would side with Pakistan. Indeed, it is mind boggling how incompetent our Pentagon has become and how anyone can claim that is progress.

If the Pentagon wasn't totally blinded by PC multiculturalism, it would not only get out of Afghanistan ASAP, it would at the same time destroy Pakistan's nuclear weapons arsenal and nuclear weapons program. The last thing it would be doing is pursuing silly fantasy based and counterproductive nation building missions in Islamic countries based on false PC multicultural fantasies, myths, and assumptions.

Matt

It would seem the US, Aust & the west in general have learned little from past conflicts.
The Soviets tried & failed & I would view the situation we face in Afghanistan in the same manner as Vietnam, in that we are never going to be triumphant fighting a counter insurgancy whereby the enemy, is made up entirely of an almost limitless number of volunteers who believe in & are prepared to die for their cause/ belief. Just like Vietnam, by not knowing exactly who is & who is not your enemy, you cant be effective using conventional forces & i haven't even allowed for Islam in the equation!

ObamaYoMoma

Actually, the last war I would compare the war in Afghanistan to is the Vietnam War, and furthermore we are not the Soviets or the Brits, so your comparisons are irrelevant and invalid. Nevertheless, the biggest problems with the war in Afghanistan and Iraq are the objectives are impossible to be achieved because those objectives are totally fantasy based. For instance, Western-style democracy in the Islamic world is impossible to achieve exactly because the freedom and liberty it embodies leaves the door wide open for its demise and also because Islam won't allow for any other system of governance; because the assumption that Islam a so-called Religion of Peace™ being hijacked by a tiny minority of extremists is an absurd PC multicultural myth; because it is impossible to win the hearts and minds of Muslims as per the dictates of Islam Muslims are obligated to hate all unbelievers' guts; because Sharia was enshrined in Afghanistan's constitution, effectively making its government a Sharia state for all intents and purposes; because as long as Muslims remain Muslims, they are our eternal enemies; etc., etc., etc.

In other words, because the Left has essentially hijacked and co-opted our federal government and infused multiculturalism, diversity, and political correctness into it, our federal government including our military establishment for all intents and purposes has been rendered completely blind and incompetent. For instance, the first rule of war is to know your enemy as well as you know yourself, but PC multiculturalism prevented that first and foremost process from occurring and is still preventing that process from occurring to this day 10 years later. Had our federal government not been hijacked and co-opted by the Left, it never would have occupied either Afghanistan or Iraq to pursue silly fantasy based and extremely counterproductive nation-building missions to begin with. Instead, it would have simply obliterated our enemies with overwhelming brute force and intentionally left behind our death and destruction to fester and to create deterrence. Indeed, it's the only recipe that works and prior to GWB morphing the Republican Party into the second coming of the Dhimmicrat Party, peace through strength and deterrence had been our official defense policy. Neither GWB nor his father had a conservative bone in their mentally handicapped leftwing bodies, as they were both stealth leftists masquerading as conservatives and they duped so many so-called Republicans that it isn't funny.

StephenD

Just one arm of the tentacles that will find their way into each venue open to it where it can spread its disease. Islam is the name of the game, period. Remember, the POTUS has an affinity for PAHK-EE-STAHN. He traveled there as a young man and shares many childhood memories with what goes on daily there. Remember too, he has stated clearly, “When the political winds shift in an ugly direction, I will stand with the Muslims.” Admitting that Muslim means much more than someone who has submitted to a certain religious belief and does have meaning politically. NO ISLAMIC COUNTRY is our friend. They simply cannot be. Our belief in Personal Liberty and Individual Responsibility under a Constitutional form of government equal to all (women & children too) is anathema to Islam.

Amused

No more affinity than Bush .And uh , dont read your spin into an old statement , that "when political winds shift .. " was spoken and directed specifically to muslims in the US , regarding persecution . Nice try though , it'll work on your fellow nimrods .
Asx for pakistan , it has been playing it's duplicitous game throughout BOTH Bush Admins , jr.& sr ., also through the Clinton Admin . None of the aforementioned has launched even a third of the drone attacks into Pakistan as Obama .
Stick to the FACTS StephenD . If you hate Obama I can understand that , but there is no need to LIE . And no , genius , Obama is not a muslim . And if you have not yet concluded that , then congratulations , take a bow , for you're as stupid as the rest of the imbeciles proclaiming the same .
Bet you're a "birther " too eh Stephen D ?

StephenD

Wow, you went all over the place with this one. Impressive. What CAN be read into what I wrote? What "facts" do you want me to stick to? You haven't mentioned one that I didn't stick to. I never mentioned that I think Obama is a Muslim; how do you get that? I never mentioned his birth certificate.. I couldn't care any less. It is irrelevant to what I said what went on in previous administrations. He did say he would stand with the Muslims. YOU may want to read into this statement that he meant that specifically for American Muslims, it doesn't matter to me. He said it. He has, in the past, exhibited an affinity for Pakistan; another FACT (you can count it in $$BILLONS). You accuse me of lies.
So, "genius" WTF are you talking about?

eddie

It is without question that we are trying to change a people that will never change !! I love the idea of peace built on streigth . Whos running this country ? our rules of engagment must change if we wish to continue living free and with out fear of being killed on our own soil !!Leave those people to goven them selves and police themselves, let them kill eachother ,it seem thats all they understand!

BLJ

It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that Pakistan is a back stabber to the U.S. Our real ally in that region is India. We need to cut off all aid to those A-holes.

Let the Chinese freight the bill. They are in bed with them anyways. We also should get the hell out of Afghanistan. That place isn't worth a nickel.

Amused

Agreed , Pakistan is no ally , by any stretch of the definition . Pakistan is killing our boys , time to cut off aid and blast their proxys on the border .

mrbean

Put me in charge. No problem. there is no shortage of napalm or cluster bombs. Rounf the clock Napalm sorties and B-52 bombings of every Pakistani border village within 50 miles of Afghanistan. Nothing like smell of napalm in the early morning and the sound of the rolling thunder of carpet bombing in the evening. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!